PSE&G to pay $200K fine in deadly house blast in Teaneck

Adya Beasley/The Star-LedgerA PSE&G worker surveys the scene of the destroyed home on Hastings Street in Teaneck.

TEANECK — Public Service Electric & Gas will pay a $200,000 fine for a house explosion that killed a 66-year-old northern New Jersey man.

The state Board of Public Utilities approved the settlement with the utility on Thursday.

The Record of Woodland Park reports that it also calls for PSE&G to revise procedures for reporting and tracking gas leaks.

The utility agreed in November to pay $450,000 to the family of Richard Hass of Teaneck. He died after leaking natural gas ignited inside his home in July 2008, causing a blast that leveled the house and damaged five other homes.

Nearby residents had reported a strong natural gas odor about two weeks before the blast. But it's not known what caused the leak or how the gas ignited.